Penny Pinching Mom

Cell Phones and Mountains Do Not Mix

I live in a tiny town (if you can even call it a town) way up in the mountains of North Carolina. Cell phone service is extremely spotty around here. I can’t get a signal in my house, and can barely get one on my back porch. Sometimes I have luck if I stand on one foot, tilt my head back slightly, touch my tongue to my nose, and put the phone to my left ear with my right hand. But it’s pretty hard to talk like that.

I have home phone service, so it’s not that big of a deal not getting a signal here. What I don’t like is being on the road without a signal. I hate the thoughts of breaking down or being in an accident on a lightly-traveled road and not being able to call anyone for help. Especially when Pumpkin is with me. When I’m by myself, I’m brave enough to go knock on someone’s door if worse comes to worst. With her, I’d rather not.

What really stinks is when I drive up to visit my mom. She lives a little over an hour away, and it is impossible to get a signal just about the whole way up there. I went to see her the other day, and fortunately I didn’t need to use my phone on the way up. But when I got there, the door was locked and she was in a room where she couldn’t hear the doorbell. I tried to call her and tell her to let me in, and it took me 20 minutes of walking around her house to get a good enough signal to get through.

As you might imagine, I would love to have a mobile cell phone booster. If you’ve never heard of them, they are portable devices that are easy to install in your car. They consist of an antenna, amplifier, and power supply. Using one of those can get you a much better signal. It can also increase your cell phone’s battery life, because it won’t use so much juice looking for a signal.

The SignalBoost mobile cell phone booster comes in a nice, portable vented bag, similar to those that once held bag phones. So you can take it with you in the car wherever you go, and easily move it to another car if needed. It also comes with an AC adapter, so you can use it in the house. That would come in handy if we were ever without phone service. I want one!